A few ideas to promote growth

[Crono]

Originally Posted by Stephen

More kids are interested in graal as a game engine than as a game.

There are more players than developers on this 'game'. The majority of the developers probably feel like they need to develop because of the state of the game, not because of general interest.

You gotta think, all the players logged into the servers, the hundreds on Zodiac, Era, and UN, how many are actually developers? Sure, some make a house or so for themselves, but EVERYONE wants to do that anyways. I wouldn't consider it a development platform, but just an appeal.

Originally Posted by Stephen

That is, after all, the few features it has which defines it as a product.

Lately Graal hasn't offered anything features to define it, really. It has offered things such as cards, revamping the subscription service, observer modes, but they are all failed attempts. People tend to just forget about them and acknowledge the things that are actually useful like development additions, but the as a development platform it is far from perfect.

It's not a perfect development platform, nor is it a perfect game, but in order to motivate people to work on it as a development platform it needs to be presentable as both. People need motivation, and it is usually players playing on their servers that gives that motivation. You do not generate peers from a development community alone, and that, at current, is the weakest side of the community.

There are not many similar products offered to a niche market. Graal is a niche game that could be open to a relatively large market, but it seems like the developers would rather it be advertised as a gaming platform? Why? Due to laziness? Maybe it's because they're also lacking in motivation to develop it as a game, which basically brings us around full circle.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Crono

There are more players than developers on this 'game'. The majority of the developers probably feel like they need to develop because of the state of the game, not because of general interest.

I would like to think the majority of players have an interest in development, if only passing - and that their initial attraction was increased by the idea of "developing their own game", even if they never pursue it. We also have a lot of servers which support the trial community - obviously a community with goals that are less defined than paying customers.

Originally Posted by Crono

Lately Graal hasn't offered anything features to define it, really. It has offered things such as cards, revamping the subscription service, observer modes, but they are all failed attempts. People tend to just forget about them and acknowledge the things that are actually useful like development additions, but the as a development platform it is far from perfect.

We can cry until the cows come home, but you and I both know it's the oldest story on Graal. We have to take control where we have it and do what we can to improve graal. It's a hell of a lot more productive than just complaining.

Originally Posted by Crono

It's not a perfect development platform, nor is it a perfect game, but in order to motivate people to work on it as a development platform it needs to be presentable as both. People need motivation, and it is usually players playing on their servers that gives that motivation. You do not generate peers from a development community alone, and that, at current, is the weakest side of the community.

It's the only thing which defines the community. Without the efforts of a few there would be no UN, Zodiac, Era, or Classic. Obviously anyone interested in Graal from a development side would also be interested in the glory of a successful server. That's probably the most motivating concept.

Originally Posted by Crono

There are not many similar products offered to a niche market. Graal is a niche game that could be open to a relatively large market, but it seems like the developers would rather it be advertised as a gaming platform? Why? Due to laziness? Maybe it's because they're also lacking in motivation to develop it as a game, which basically brings us around full circle.

If we had a few high quality playerworlds, and the Gold servers were improved, Graal Online would be ready for advertisement prime time. All of that in mind, I want to avoid the politics of the administration as much as possible - that sort of posturing isn't going to help anything, it will distract people from the great goal, and will attract a lot of negative attention from all the wrong places.